Candlelight and Kisses
by Mereel Skirata
Summary: A sleepover is surely the perfect time for sharing of secrets. But can Trini find the strength to admit the one secret nestled in her heart before she loses this chance forever? Or will her still lingering fear and doubts hold her back from the most important admission of her life. A sequel to The Only Thing We Have To Fear and loosely continuing on from Darkness of the Mind.


Candlelight and Kisses

Series: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Pairing: Trini x Kimberly

The original series, all concepts and characters are owned by Saban and all original creators. Certainly not me. No copyright infringement is intended. This story is owned by me, Mereel Skirata and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without my permission. Story published on 11/12/2017.

* * *

'Come on. I know I saw you around here somewhere.' Those words muttered mostly to the pink ranger who some might have called the original even if Kimberly thought she only earned them through sheer luck went unanswered in the empty kitchen. After all, how could chocolate biscuits answer her back. Although it would be much easier if they could, then Kimberly would have the last thing she needed for this long planned slumber party. Well..long arranged anyway. Planned might be going a bit too far. Otherwise Trini wouldn't have had to run out to the store for essentials both of them should have thought of.

The very thought of her long time teammate and even longer time friend brought a pang of guilt to Kimberly as she glanced out of the window at the wind whipped trees and dark clouds rushing by in the growing gale she had sent her friend out into. Not that she hadn't offered to go herself but Trini had insisted she would be back in flash.

That guilt didn't exactly last long almost as quickly replaced by a far stronger pang of worry, the wind lashing against the windows added to by the first heavy drops of rain that promised to be more than a quick shower. Worry that aided Kimberly's hasty dash towards the front door only fumbling with the latch as her other hand scrambled to grab an umbrella hoping that it would protect her against the storm she was willing to brave to go and find her friend. Something that thankfully proved unnecessary, Kimberly hastily tugging open the door to nearly collide with a bedraggled and, even if she kept that thought to herself, rather pathetically forlorn Trini; her traditional yellow shirt and jeans hovering just on the side of drenched.

'Good timing.' Trini remarked far more dryly than she was, gratefully crossing the threshold as Kimberly practically slammed the door against the gathering storm, almost resentfully cutting it out as punishment for soaking her friend.

'Guess I should have given you an umbrella after all.' Kimberly said slowly.

'It would have just slowed me down.' Trini reflected. 'If it had survived. That wind is really picking up. I hope that Dana and Ashley are okay in this.'

'I think they can take care of themselves.' Kimberly spared a thought for the veteran rescue rangers who could surely do that before returning to her now shivering friend. 'I'm more worried about you. You should change before you catch a cold. Go on. I'll take those.'

Not taking no for an answer, Kimberly took the treat filled bag firmly, equally as firmly as the friendly push on her friend's back to urge her upstairs.

* * *

Not that Trini really needed much urging, her damp clothes now becoming uncomfortably clammy against her skin with every step that were drive enough for her to hurry upstairs, the pause to stop into her bedroom to grab her pyjamas feeling like an agonising wait before she gratefully retreated to the bathroom to seek the much needed comfort of a fluffy towel. By the time she did the clamminess was an almost overpowering distraction she was glad to be rid of, the still shivering yellow ranger tugging, quite literally, her shirt over her head; the damp material putting up quite a fight for a sodden lump of cloth she gratefully dumped in the hamper.

Her bra it transpired hadn't exactly fared much better, the once light yellow material darkened by the water that had seeped through it. Yet that wasn't her main concern at this point, the main focus of her offending discomfort now being her jeans that clung to her legs with such a tightness that it was a literal struggle to work them down her legs until they too were discarded much to the oriental girls great relief. At least the thick jeans had absorbed most of the water, leaving her knickers only a little damp. But still damp enough that they had to go too. And that might have been something Trini would have done instantly had it not been for Kimberly's voice drifting to her.

'Trini? Are you in there?'

'I'm in the bathroom. Just drying off.' Trini called back, guessing correctly that Kimberly was standing outside her bedroom. 'I'll be out in a minute if you want to get changed.'

'Okay. See you in one.' Kimberly called out and was gone, leaving Trini both relieved and a little conflicted. It would have been the easiest thing for her to strip off her underwear and, wrapped in little more than a towel, join Kimberly both in the warmth of her bedroom and her friends company. And a few months ago she would have done that without hesitation. But now..hesitation was all she felt, an almost bashful shyness about even the thought of being anything approaching naked around her best friend. Best friend. There was the thing wasn't it. Unknown to Kimberly and out of Trini's control her thoughts about her had changed from simple platonic friendship to something more; something equally as uncomplicated and yet a million times more complex. Not complex in understanding her feelings but more unsure what to do about them. An uncertainty that kept Trini hesitating long enough to fully strip, dry herself off and redress in her pyjamas before even daring to think about re-joining her friend.

Daring being the operative word given how she still felt a little bashful in them. Okay, it was what she always wore, her loose Night shirt and sleep shorts so comfortable and familiar she shouldn't have even thought twice about wearing them as she had done many times. But she did and that was surely another sign of how much things had changed.

Changed or not, that was something Kimberly hadn't yet done when Trini entered her bedroom with more hesitation than she should have shown for the one room that was hers; her eyes settling on her friend seated on her bed so casually it made her heart ache that she couldn't manage it. How could she feel so comfortable here when she was a couple of steps away from a nervous wreck like someone around their crush. Luckily Kimberly was focused on the phone pressed to her ear that she didn't notice her discomfort.

'No..that's okay. You guys have to do what you can. I'm not sure it would be safe to drive in this storm anyway.'

Grateful for the distraction Trini was suddenly utterly aware of the rain now pounding against the windows with a fury matched only by the first rumble of thunder that spoke volumes towards how big a storm this was building up to be.

'Let me guess, they can't make it?' Trini very much hoped that question sounded casual rather than frustrated or nervous. She certainly couldn't blame her closest friends from the new rangers having to be called to active duty, even if that one consequence changed the whole dynamic of the evening; a sleepover with friends sounding safer than one with Kimberly alone, leaving her with nothing to distract her from her conflicted thoughts as much as her worry she might act on them.

'fraid not. It's just us. Doesn't mean we can't still make an evening of it.' Kimberly said chucking down her phone and without any hesitation or shyness shucked her pink chequered shirt and the lighter rose t-shirt that lay under it, both items of clothing landing on the bed as the now nearly topless Kimberly casually snapped open her bra to cross that line from nearly to actually topless in one smooth movement.

Almost frozen Trini couldn't help staring with a lump in her throat, somehow envying Kimberly her confidence as she easily stripped off her shoes, socks, trousers and panties with an ease that once again had Trini doubting that she felt anything approaching what she felt for her friend, only serving to make her more uncertain and guilty about her feelings.

A feeling that only grew more conflicted as Kimberly pulled out one of the small selection of nightdresses she had left here for just such a night and easily slipped it over her head much to Trini's almost contradictory relief and disappointment.

'Well..come on. We have a movie night with our name on it.' Kimberly said in a tone that could almost have been mistaken for disinterest in Trini's conflicted feelings rather than an ignorance of them. Right there and then Trini wasn't really sure which hurt most.

That conflict and doubt hadn't stopped Trini following Kimberly's suggestion, having managed to push them away as she sank into almost familiar routine by flicking through the collection of DVD's that was as much hers as Kimberly's, a silent confession towards how often they had done this over the years. Even when she had moved away Trini hadn't had the heart to throw them away for fear of doing the same with the memories that came with them. Almost without thinking Trini's wandering hand that flicked almost distractedly along the smooth cases to make a choice that wasn't really a choice at all. She knew better than trying to talk Kimberly out of watching her favourite film. Even if Kimberly allowed her to make her choice first she would eventually wheedle her into watching it anyway. So it was with a smile equal parts fond resignation and willing acceptance that Trini grabbed The Legend of Fern Gully closely followed by her personal choice for the evening, Bugsy Malone.

From there it was only a matter of a few minutes work to slip the disk into the drive, just about having time to register the satisfying clack of the drive closing before Kimberly entered with a tray of snacks in both hands. 'Somehow I don't think we are going to run out since we brought enough for five people. Still, they will keep. Do we have everything we need in here?'

'Let's see.' Trini stepped back to let the DVD do its thing, silently glad not for the first time that rewinding a disk wasn't something she had to struggle through. 'Movies..check. Snacks...check. Nice roaring fire...check.'

Check or not, Trini did a double check on the softly crackling fire in the grate she had stacked and set going even before the storm set in, a simple preference that now added a soothing comfort of familiar indulgent warmth against the howling gale outside. Well, that an it added a sense of normality Trini still found she craved after the events of a Halloween that even after two weeks having passed still left her feeling just a little unsettled at night. Unsettled enough that she still found it hard to sleep with the lights off. 'Yep..I think we are good to go.'

And good to go they would have been had not at that very moment the gods of hubris or some other force with a twisted sense of humour and not very comic timing snapped their collective fingers to plunge the whole house into a darkness broken only by the crackling flickering firelight.

'You were saying?' Kimberly sighed, a soft sound that made Trini's ears prick up just a little, almost thinking she heard a little tremor of anxiety under her words. Anxiety hidden by the low light that didn't allow her the luxury of seeing her face clearly enough to be sure.

'Might just be a fuse blown.' Trini said, already having pulled out her phone and flicked on her flashlight app. 'I'll check it out. You hang here.'

Kimberly couldn't exactly say no to that. Well, she could have done. But that would have let on to Trini how anxious she suddenly felt. And that would have meant admitting it to herself. So she did the only thing she could as Trini slipped out of the lounge, quickly sitting with her back to the fire and her eyes locked on the fire as she more than a little idly fingered her morpher tucked into the back pocket of her nightdress on instinct and forgotten about until this moment.

Even as she fingered the familiar hard shape that was almost as much a part of her as her hand she found that the equally familiar comfort that usually came from it was absent; any sense of that soothing comfort stolen by the memory of how her power had failed her on Halloween to leave her scared and alone. Just like right now.

If only Trini had known she wasn't the only Ranger still reeling from the effects of that day that had tested them unlike any other, that neither of them were bouncing back from that fear as quickly as they should, she might have found shared strength in a kindred spirit as much as Kimberly would have done. But she didn't, both girls alone with fears that for Kimberly felt very real.

Try as she might, Kimberly couldn't help those fears clawing at her self-control, little sparks of true panic bubbling up in her brain. All around her the house was silent, absent the familiar hum of power or the soothing soft footfalls to signal her friend returning. Yet within that silence lay a menace, a silent fear that something else was here having crept into the house with them, lurking nearby and ready to pounce. A fear that all the rational thought in the world couldn't shake.

'How long does it take to check a fuse?' Kimberly muttered, mostly to hear the sound of her own voice in this all to empty surround. Even if she didn't get a response. Well, not the one she wanted. The only sound that drifted back to her was a soft creak of a floorboard magnified in the silence that had Kimberly up on her feet in a second, her heart pounding unsure whether to flee or stay. 'Trini?' Kimberly croaked softly. 'Trini? Is that you?'

Silence followed that whispered question, a question that Kimberly had barely heard so what chance was there that Trini had? A question she would have asked again had her throat not suddenly been tight and dry.

One minute passed into two that felt more like an hour than a scant 120 seconds, the passage of that time marked by little than the thumping of Kimberly's heart until with a suddenness that made her jump a flare of light from the doorway heralded the return of her friend.

'Trini!' Kimberly was back on her feet in a second, a little quaver of panic bubbling up in her voice before she could stop it. 'What happened? I thought you..would be back sooner.'

Kimberly very much hoped that pause went unnoticed, her secret unbidden worries that something had happened to Trini almost having slipped out. Silly as it was, as she knew it was, Kimberly couldn't help a flashback to the separation from Trini she had endured in the haunted house. To say nothing about the overwhelming nigh crushing panic she had felt at being so alone and powerless and helpless. Luckily for her, Trini almost seemed distracted herself, maybe caught up in the same memories currently plaguing Kimberly. Despite the almost reassuring realisation that she wasn't the only one struggling with this, Kimberly somehow couldn't bring herself to actually mention it; that would mean actually admitting her fear. Not just admitting it to herself, but also to her friend which would be something she couldn't take back.

'Sorry.' Trini said slowly with no obvious mention of her friend's discomfort, something Kimberly took as reassuring rather than a snub of any kind. 'I got a call from Jason. Seems the power is out everywhere. He and Tommy are stuck at the Dojo with his karate class at least until the storm dies down.'

'What about Billy and Zach?' Kimberly hoped she sounded casual about that, despite the almost relieved need to focus on something other than her worries. 'Are they okay?'

'They might be in the safest place, according to Jason.' Trini nodded. 'Zach contacted him via his communicator about ten minutes ago. They were both caught out in the storm when it hit, Zach helping Billy set up an experiment to monitor the storm when it snuck up on them. They really had no choice but to teleport to the Command Centre to get to safety.'

'Well..if anywhere can weather a storm it can.' Kimberly nodded. 'I guess we can't do much more than that ourselves. Since the movie marathon is a bust, maybe we should try to get some sleep.'

'With this going on around us?' Trini half laughed as another rumble of thunder crashed around the house. 'I don't think I could sleep right now. I've been sleeping a lot with the lights on recently.'

You too? That question almost rose in Kimberly's throat, only surprise keeping it from actually passing her lips. Had anyone suggested the idea that Trini was scared of the dark, she would have brushed it off with a full hearted defence of her best friend. But recent events had made her question a lot of things. Events that clearly she wasn't the only one having a hard time getting over, the lingering memory apparently still having a pronounced affect that both rangers found it hard to shake.

'Well..I don't think that's an option right now.' Kimberly said slowly.

'Maybe not.' Trini replied with that distracted tone of voice she always got when she was having an idea. 'Follow me.'

If Trini felt Kimberly's confusion as the pair hastily made their way upstairs with hands clasped together in almost silent and firm contact, almost as if they were secretly afraid the other would vanish if they let go, she didn't show it. Her mind was already racing ahead to what she would need for her plan, the roaring fire left behind the fire guard in the living room only to be replaced by a similar but smaller glow as Trini quickly lit the small candle set in the glass lamp on her window sill. While that did fill the once darkened room with a flickering light that rose as many shadows as it dispelled, that wasn't enough for the yellow ranger. What would have been quickly became apparent over the next few minutes of focused activity watched by an increasingly less bemused and proportionately more amused Kimberly as her friend gathered dozens of smaller candles to place them on cupboards and dressers and the once single candled windowsill until the room wasn't so much lit by as filled with flickering candle light.

'There.' Trini clapped her hands softly. 'Perfect. Let's see the storm try to knock that out.'

'I wouldn't tempt it.' Kimberly teased before relenting before her friend's soft pout. 'Still, it does add a nice warmth I guess. 'I'm just not sure what we are going to do now. I'm too keyed up to sleep and as you said a movie marathon is out of the question.'

'People did amuse themselves before tv.' Trini chided softly. 'But maybe a movie wasn't the best idea right now. I think we need to do something to relax.'

'Well..you aren't going to relax out there.' Kimberly scooted over under the covers which she flicked back to reveal the space she had left for her friend. 'Besides, its cold out there and with how you got drenched earlier you really should keep warm.'

'I guess I should.' Trini replied, crossing the slight distance to the bed before she could even think about her hesitation that Kimberly would surely have picked up on. 'You know..my mother used to do this whenever there was a storm and dad was working a night shift. We would both curl up in her bed and she would read to me until I fell asleep.'

'Funny. My dad would do the same. Well..he would sit with me and read to me from the end of my bed. No matter how tired I was I'd always try to stay up and hear the end of the story but he had this way of relaxing me no matter how much I wanted to stay awake or was too afraid to sleep.'

'What did he read to you?' Trini asked, suddenly curious. It was rare to hear Kimberly talk about her father, almost like the memories she had of him were too precious to share lest they lost some of their power.

'Myths and Legends.' Kimberly tugged the covers a little higher up around her neck at the same time she shuffled closer to Trini with a casualness that could have been accidental but that the yellow ranger couldn't ignore either. 'Jason and the Argonauts. The Minotaur in the Maze. Tales of a Hercules and Thor. I never asked him why but I think we wanted to show me something that could inspire me. Without realising that he was the one who actually inspired me the most.'

'Or without realising you would actually fight a real Minotaur one day.' Trini didn't mean to belittle her friend's memories, but she recognised the cloud that passed over her friend's face, her recollections no doubt having brought home the distance that sat between Kimberly and her father, distance that belied their closeness.

'That we would.' Kimberly reminded. 'It was very much a team fight.'

'Teamwork.' Trini nodded amidst a flash of nostalgia for those days, days when things still seemed simpler.

'Not that my mother approved really.' Kimberly sounded distant, leaving Trini to wonder if she had even heard her recollection. 'Not about the stories. But about how I took to them. I think it was the time she found me in the garden covered in grass stains and mud, brandishing a stick as I went hunting Minotaur that did it. The next day she took me to my first gymnastics class and I never looked back.'

'Well..if she hadn't, you wouldn't have been able to handle yourself so well.' Trini said earnestly. 'Even without martial arts you did as well as us during our first fight.'

'If by that you mean getting taken out second.' Kimberly shrugged.

'Like I was far behind you.' Trini countered. 'We all got pretty good at it after a while.'

'Guess we did at that.' Kimberly agreed. 'Anyway, spill. I'm not going to be the only one sharing sappy memories tonight. What did your mother used to read to you?'

'Nothing as cool as your dad.' Trini replied, more than a little surprised to feel her cheeks burning. 'Stuff I used to like when I was younger. Peter Rabbit. Alice in Wonderland. The Rabbit in the Moon.'

'I'm sensing a rabbit theme here.' Kimberly smirked playfully. 'Maybe a good thing you didn't get the ninja ranger powers. A rabbit ranger doesn't have quite the same ring to it.'

'No...I guess it doesn't.' Trini lapsed into a contemplative silence only broken when Kimberly tapped her playfully on the nose.

'Hey. No zoning out. At least without telling me what's on your mind.' Kimberly said pointedly.

'Sorry. I was just thinking.' Trini replied, relying on that almost rote and unconscious reply to not just marshal her thoughts but align them correctly in her head in an effort to avoid getting caught up in the doubts about the past. Which was the problem. The past. It wasn't like she could do anything to change them now. Or... With a mental shake of her head teamed with the duel awareness that she was both rambling and hadn't answered her question. 'It's..I wish we had had more sleepovers like this when we were younger.'

'Okay..now you've lost me.' Kimberly admitted. 'We had plenty of sleepovers.'

'Not like this though.' Trini drew in a deep breath, steadying herself against the wash of emotion brought along by what amounted to years of missed opportunities. Not just about the sleepovers though, that had just been the catalyst that had forged one small doubt into recriminations not about things not done but things not said, things that could now maybe never be said without always being somehow tainted by the simple realisation of what she should have said many times over. Again with effort Trini pulled herself away from larger doubts to focus on this smaller one. 'Sharing a room was nice. But I wish we could have shared a bed like a proper sleepover.'

'That would have been nice.' Kimberly agreed.

'I know. While it still felt special having you there; comforting and relaxing and exciting all wrapped up together...I can't help looking back and thinking it would have been more fun to know you were sleeping next to me as much like a sister as a friend.'

'Did you ever think of me as a sister?'

That question sounded like it had surprised Kimberly as much as it had Trini, somehow sneaking up on her friend. Well...it wasn't like Trini couldn't relate. She was hardly immune from the odd occurrence of her mouth saying something before her brain had even considered if it should be said.

'I didn't.' There. Case in point. Mortified as she was, Trini couldn't help her logical mind pointing out that she had done just that while her more emotive brain was scrambling to find a way to if not take back what she had said then at least explain it. 'Sorry. That came out wrong. I mean. I would have liked a sister. And would have been overjoyed if it had been you. But as friends..well..that felt stronger somehow. Because we had chosen to be friends, you know? We didn't just know each other. We met and wanted to get to know the other.'

'I can't argue with that.' Kimberly smiled, a sure sign that she hadn't taken her slip of the tongue to heart. 'I guess these sleepovers wouldn't even have happened if we had been sisters.'

'Yeah.' Trini nodded. 'Even if you had been my sister, I don't think my mum would have let us bunk together anyway. She had very firm ideas about self-reliance and standing on your own two feet, even when I was young. I think she didn't want me to think she was coddling me, even if maybe she tried a bit too hard with that. I get the feeling she was coddled a bit when she was younger and maybe she is trying not to make that mistake with me. Somehow we could never find the right time to discuss it. Funny, she wanted me to count on myself when all those years I was counting on someone else.'

'Oh? Now who could that be?' Kimberly smirked. 'Jason maybe? No. Wait. Zach? Ah. Billy. Of course.'

Trini just fixed her friend with a fondly deadpan stare until Kimberly both cracked and cracked up, her equally stoic faced friend descending into peals of laughter. 'Okay..okay. I take it back.' Kimberly gasped breathlessly.

'Nope. You can't.' Trini teased. 'You already said it.'

'Then I'll say something else too.' Kimberly had instantly sobered up at the same moment that she rose up on one elbow to gaze down at Trini who couldn't ignore the sudden fluttering of her heart. 'You were always my strength, you know? It comforted me to know that you could handle something and that you would be there for me if I couldn't and that I would be there for you. I don't think I've had made it as a power ranger if it hadn't have been for you. I wasn't sure I could be strong enough. You were always the strongest of the two of us. I wasn't. Remember that first day? After we defeated Goldar and the putties for the first time and Zordon said we all had what it took?' 'You mean when you joked about feeling it wasn't for you and that you couldn't do it?' Trini asked, the feelings from that day she had never stopped thinking about returning as if was yesterday rather than over ten years ago.

'Yeah.' Kimberly replied. 'Only I wasn't joking. Not really. I played it cool but part of me wanted to walk away right then. It was only seeing that you were staying that kept me there. How could I walk away when you couldn't? Would you believe that I wasn't walking away because you weren't? You just seemed so cool with it, with space monsters and dinosaur machines and all of it that I figured if you could be so brave, then so could I. That's just it. I wasn't brave. Well,.maybe I was. Every time for the first few months that we had to go into action I was terrified. Sure I cried out Pterodactyl as loudly as the rest of you but that was just bravado pure and simple. I thought about quitting as many times as I felt I couldn't. Somehow I couldn't bring myself to do it. Then I really would have been a coward. And a quitter. And you wouldn't have quit.'

'Except I did.' Trini sighed. 'I'm not talking about recently. When I handed in my morpher. That was different. I'm talking about years ago. When the peace conference came up, I didn't just jump at it for the chance to do some good. I went for it to do something that would actually make a difference, to achieve something.'

'You thought we weren't achieving something as Power Rangers?' Kimberly asked sounding torn between confused and..well..not hurt but pained in a way Trini couldn't exactly pin down.

'Were we?' Trini pressed softly. 'Sure. We defeated Rita. But Lord Zedd had just come along and it seemed like we had just traded one threat for another, one more dangerous than before. I didn't see where it was going to end, how it was going to end. So I took the easy way out.'

'Well..we both did.' Kimberly smiled. 'Both decided our time as Rangers was done. And yet..here we are. That has to count for something right? Now..I say we should try to get some sleep. If we can.'

'I think so too.' Trini smiled back. 'But it would be a shame not to follow the family tradition and have one of us read to sleep. And since it's my room, I think it's only fair to let me read you to sleep.'

'Sure. Why not.' Trini felt the bed shift without seeing Kimberly tucking herself back under the blankets as she was already reaching for a book from the shelves close at hand, grabbing one without thinking. Mulan.

'Is..that in Chinese?' Kimberly asked.

'Yes.' Trini flicked open the book. 'I'm very good at translating though. So just listen. Close your eyes if you like.'

Sparing her friend only a quick glance to see her Request had been followed, Trini started to read, loosing herself in the familiar flow and rhythm of the words. Words that were clearly as soothing to her as Kimberly. Subtle it might have been but she could easily detect a shift in her breathing, each breath coming slower as Kimberly drifted inexorably towards sleep, guided by Trini's soft voice and equally soft closeness. Her relaxation didn't stop her moving closer, carefully slipping her arm around her friend's shoulder as she held the book awkwardly in one hand. It was a gamble that paid off, Kimberly only stirring softly but not opening her eyes. Awkwardly this new position might be for reading but Trini didn't want to move, caught in a sudden swell of protectiveness.

Yet that wasn't the strongest feeling she had racing through her. By all rights it should have been. Had Trini had her way she would have stayed here in the present, in this moment. But the mind often has a way of going where we need it too, not where we want it too. Call that rationalisation if you like, a simple yet powerful human desire to make sense of something that could have been little more than random. Whatever the reason, Trini found her mind dragged back to the past with a lurch that she could almost have believed she felt physically rather than emotionally. Emotionally was very much the way she dropped into a part reflective part self-recriminating whirlwind of things unsaid and left undone, a veritable storm of chances missed. All of them swirling around Kimberly and those three little words she should have said when she had the chance.

Isn't that choice now?

Trini wasn't sure where that almost tangible voice came from or who it was meant to be. Zordon maybe. Jason. Tommy. Or maybe the one person she should have looked too to make this choice. Could it be that simple? Could Trini just take the years and choices that seemed to have almost passed her by in a flash and push one aside while fiercely and with all the strength she had grasp the other? Could she do the one thing she so deeply wanted too and yet was so utterly terrified of having it ruin everything that it stole her breath?

No. Summoning all her resolve Trini tested the waters with a still shaking hand that somehow managed to delicately sweep a stray hair away from Kimberly's beautiful face, watching for any sign, any stir or twitch that would have robbed her new found confidence and seeing none.

Heart pounding now and feeling in some ways out of her own control, Trini leaned closer and closer still until her lips brushed Kimberly's so sweetly, so lightly it was almost the ghost of a kiss that brought with it a bittersweet connection she feared she would never have felt. All that conscious thought and recrimination fell away in the face of pure instinct that demanded Trini deepen that kiss, her eyes softly closing. Instinct she didn't resist, lost in this shamefully secret moment she wished she had the courage to follow when Kimberly was awake. With a sigh of both relief and sorrow in equal measure Trini opened her eyes only for her heart to leap into her throat.

And with good reason, for she was staring not a peacefully sleeping visage of her friend but into her open and questing chestnut eyes filled with a storm of emotion Trini couldn't process any more than her own horror. None of which stopped her searching those eyes for any sign of hurt or anger or suppressed fury before her mind came crashing back to the present and she bolted from the bed in a flurry of covers, her discarded book tumbling to the floor with a thump. Still, she only managed two sets before a touch on her shoulder stopped her, not forceful or angry but full of a soft concern she couldn't ignore; as soft as the concern in her friends voice.

'Trini..'

'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have...' Trini whimpered in glowing mortification, desperately wishing to just escape or have the ground swallow her or something to plunge her into an empty depth greater than her shame and guilt.

Yet Kimberly wouldn't let her escape or flee, turning her to face her steadily with nothing more censorious than warm concern in her eyes. 'Shouldn't have kissed me? Or shouldn't have hidden how you felt? Because you do feel something for me, don't you?'

Trini saw a longing in her eyes in that question and it rocked her. 'How could I not? You were with Tommy and you two seemed happy. How could I get between that? And when I came back you still seemed happy and getting on with your life and I couldn't see a place for me in that. Not as I wanted to be. Not as I wanted us to be.'

'So you wanted there to be an us?' Kimberly pressed.

'I don't know. Didn't know.' Trini sighed. 'I hoped there could be. But I couldn't find the way to say it, couldn't seem to find the words. And I really shouldn't have kissed you. I just wanted to feel that just once and now I've..I've..I'm gonna go. I'm sorry. I'll take..take the couch or something. I'll...'

'..stay right there.' Kimberly said firmly. 'I don't want you to go. Not when I could have you here. I don't want to loose you.'

'As a friend.' Trini said with a bitterness she couldn't avoid, not daring to hope it could be anything more.

'No..not just as a friend.' Kimberly said firmly. 'Maybe I should have said something earlier too. Because I wanted more than that myself. Like you I couldn't see how to get it either, so I convinced myself I could be happy with Tommy. You saw how that lasted.'

'And it doesn't bother you we wasted so many years?' Trini aside.

'Who said we did.' Kimberly shrugged. 'Maybe we just had to find the right moment. And maybe this moment is now. So..come back to bed and I can give you a proper kiss, not a stolen one.

That gave Trini pause, her still stunned mind following that ad best she could and yet still making it to one almost unavoidable conclusion. 'You didn't..'

'Once.' At least Kimberly had the good grace to look embarrassed. 'At the last sleepover. On Halloween.'

'You little minx.' Trini couldn't help a smooth chuckle following that utterance, one that drew a wry smile from Kimberly.

'Look who's talking.'

'Fair point.' Trini conceded with a brief laugh before that fleeting burst of mirth faded. 'I'm just glad tonight worked out the way it did. Otherwise I might have never been able to screw up the courage rather than just screw everything up.'

'Don't talk like that.' Kimberly said both firmly and earnestly. 'You didn't screw everything up.'

'I could have done.' Trini sighed. 'This could have been the closest I got to actually telling you. I'm...'

'...being too hard on yourself.' Kimberly said firmly. 'You would have found a way. In fact you did. Now, it's late and we are both tired. Too tired to spend the night debating what ifs and could have been's. Now, get your cute tush in here before I drag you in here.'

'Seems like I win anyway.' Trini's mirthful retort didn't stop her doing just that, returning to her hastily abandoned place at Kimberly's side. Returning equally as hastily as gratefully, especially as Kimberly slid an arm around her shoulder to draw her into an embrace that left her feeling warm, safe and comforted in equal measure. Feeling all three of those to say nothing of Kimberly's closeness guiding her slowly into the deep embrace of sleep she was more than willing to accept.

'Are you going to be able to sleep?' Half drowsy or not, Trini was still distantly aware of the thunderstorm still peeling away outside.

'With you here?' Kimberly replied in the same sleep filled voice Trini knew she was hearing from her. 'Absolutely. How can I be scared of anything when you are here?'

* * *

Trini drifted awake not really remembering having fallen asleep. Yet the memory of last night was something she was hyper aware of, that almost instantaneous recollection bringing a smile to her face that only grew upon seeing Kimberly still sleeping next to her with the morning light resting gently upon her brow.

Trini was tempted to almost follow its example and run her fingers over that sunshine caressed skin. Tempted almost to the point of action with only fear of disturbing her dearest friends, no..now more than friend...of disturbing her sleep.

Trini finished that disjointed thought with slow pause. And pause was what she was given too. Pause and thought as she tried to find some label or description to cover the revelations and admissions of the night just gone. After all they had shared and allowed to be shared, what did that make them now? Still friends. Friends forever. But now something more. Something...

'Stop it.' Trini softly chided herself. 'No need to overthink this. Not yet.'

Still, those words trailed off again, not from conflicted thought but fresh worry about waking Kimberly. Her words were true. She shouldn't overthink. Not before she and Kimberly talked it out amongst themselves.

As it turned out, it hadn't been her she needed to worry about waking Kimberly. Not with the early morning silence broken by the shrill ringtone of Kimberly's phone. Biting back a curse that surely wouldn't have dared cross her lips a few years ago, Trini scrambled for the still ringing device just barely catching a glimpse of the caller ID before it was pressed against her ear.

'Morning Kimberly. Did I wake you?'

'Morning Jason.' Trini replied. 'No, you..oh...yes, you did.'

'Sorry Trini.' Trini had no idea if Jason meant for thinking she was Kimberly or for waking her. And no time to ask which before her fellow ranger continued. 'Just wanted to see if you two are okay. It was a pretty wild storm last night.'

'We're fine. I..Yes. Yes, it's Jason.' Trini very much hoped Jason knew or worked out that Trini was talking to Kimberly who had just sat up looking a little sleep groggy. 'He's just..okay, sure. Here.'

'Jason.' Kimberly almost mumbled through a yawn as she took the phone to leave Trini to return to the space on the bed she had vacated. 'No no, we are fine. Hmmm? The juice bar? Sure we can make it. 9.00? No problem. See you then. Bye.'

'I'm guessing we are meeting up then?' Trini said as Kimberly dropped to the bed beside her.

'Yup. Jason had his team leader voice on. Never could argue with that.'

'You argued with Tommy's right enough.' Trini pointed out.

'Well..we were dating.' Kimberly pointed back. 'What's the good of having a boyfriend if you can't tease him once in a while.'

The casual use of that word almost prompted Trini to ask her question again. Luckily for her Kimberly continued before that train of thought ran away with her. 'Anyway. We had better get up if we don't want to be late.'

'You do remember the juice bar is only ten minutes' walk away?' Trini asked slowly. 'Surely we could stay here a bit longer.'

'We could.' Kimberly was out of bed and already half pulling off her shirt before she glanced back at Trini with a grin. 'But I want a nice hot shower and I'm not taking it alone.'

'You know..I don't get it. I just don't get it.'

Short that exasperated phrase might have been but it was enough for Trini and Kimberly to work out exactly what Zach was grumbling about from where he nursed the last of his fruit shake, even his favourite pineapple and mango crush not being enough to shake him from the torpor that seemed to have gripped him. That and the part lingering part bemused gaze that never left the dark skinned woman idly chatting with someone likely a friend of hers given the way she casually leaned over the bench press bench as the object of Zach's mixed ire and longing worked her way through another set.

'Seriously...what has she got that I haven't.'

'Is it so odd to think that think that you might not be her type?' Billy suggested with a shrug. A gesture that got a look from Zach which quite plainly said he should never suggest such a thing again.

It was a look that Billy let slide over him as he turned his attention to the new arrivals, his eyes seeming to settle on Trini's hand that had been wrapped around Kimberly's before the pair broke that embrace to each take a seat. For a second Trini thought she saw a knowing look in his eyes but if she did he made no mention of it. 'Quite the turbulent night we had. I was concerned we would have to spend the night in the Command Centre, but thanks to some judicious equations Alpha and I were able to overcome the storms latent ionic dispersal and allow us to teleport home.'

'Dude..I was there and even I don't know what that meant.' Zach sighed.

'I think Billy means he was able to cut through the interference from the lightning.' Kimberly said with a laugh. 'Right?'

'Pretty much.' Billy said.

'Am I too late to watch Zach get shot down again?' Jason called out much to the obvious irking of his friend. 'I guess so. Seriously Zach. If you've got that much energy to burn, then we should spar for a bit. You two are more than welcome to join us.'

'Thanks Jason.' Trini said. 'But Kimberly is going to show me a few new moves on the beam later. Anyway, what did you want to talk to us about?'

'About the storm.' Jason said. 'I'm sure you guys noticed the damage on the way here. I was thinking we should all get together later and see what we can do about cleaning it up. Kinda like we used to do back in high school.'

'Well..I can't decline.' Billy replied. 'I have to go and check in with Alpha first. The Command Centre took a few strikes last night and we just want to be sure nothing was damaged.'

'Okay. Let's meet back here at two.' Jason said firmly. 'Tommy should be done with his class by then so we can really do this as a team.'

With that Jason and Zach slipped away, leaving Trini about to do the same when something attracted her attention. Kimberly. Hardly unusual in that. She had been attracting her attention a lot recently. But this was different. As was the way she was watching Billy. Who was just as intently watching them.

'What?' That was the question, even if one that Trini asked more with mirth than any real accusation or anger.

'I'm just wondering...something looks different with you two.' Billy said slowly. 'Something..in the way..something in your eyes. Both your eyes. Something like..how you used to look at Tommy. Not just with Kimberly. With both of you. At both of you. Are..are you...'

'We..don't know yet.' Trini answered for both of them. 'We are still working it out. Will you..'

'...tell the others?' Billy somehow guessed what she was going to say. And said very much what she hoped he would say. 'No. Of course not. But I'll be there when you want to tell the others. Anyway, I'd better get going. Alpha will think I'm not coming.'

'Well..that was unexpected.' Trini managed with a sheepish grin.

'I'm just glad it was him and not Zach. I'm sure he'd have been as much teasing about it as supportive.' Kimberly chuckled.

'Doesn't mean his question wasn't a good one.' Trini couldn't help a fresh flicker of doubt that Kimberly soothed instantly.

'So was your answer. Today we don't have to worry about that. Let's just enjoy this moment.'

'I can do that.' Trini nodded.

END

* * *

Well, I hadn't been expecting to write this. I was just planning to jot down a few ideas and keep them for later to maybe come back too. Yet the muse seemed to have other ideas and it quickly bloomed into a full story that almost seemed to write itself with my only being the channel somehow. Maybe I'm overthinking this too much. Either way, I'm very happy with how it turned out. I'm very much hoping this wont be the last Kimberly x Trini fic I write, even if I do need to go away from the sleepover theme lol. If you want to see more from this developing couple, do drop me a line. Who knows, you might stoke my muse. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it. M Skirata.


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